A Little Macau Fan

We took Matty to watch his first Disney on Ice show in Macau this week. After packing our bags in a rush, we hopped onto a taxi heading for Shun Tak Ferry terminal where we were to meet up with Matty's cousin. Just as we were checking the time, Matty looked at us and said: "can I give some milk to the cows in Ma-cow?' We just cracked up.

Matty has been to Macau before, but it was when he was 8-months-old so obviously he doesn't remember much, and he certainly doesn't remember Macau is the name of a place.

When we finally reached the venue of the show, we were a little worried that it would be too long for Matty's short attention span. But we were wrong. Matty loved it from the beginning to the end. Although I had to fill in the gaps for him when it was about Lion King and the Little Mermaid, because I haven't told him the stories yet. Matty said his favourite characters from the show were Mickey Mouse, Sally the car,  and the little mermaid.

During our short stay in Macau, we were given a surprise tour of the University of Macau by 爺爺 (grandpa) and his friend there. It was one of the "highlight" of our trip there, especially for my hubby, on his birthday. (ha ha ha) 
But being pretty prepared for most situations, I already helped Matty buy his Da Da a birthday cake. So in the end... I guess, Matty saved the day.

Haircuts Can Be Fun

There was a time when Matty used to cry when we took him for his haircut. But he doesn't anymore. He just squints. Maybe its because he's a big boy now. Or maybe cutting hair is a lot more fun than what it used to be.

We took him for a haircut the other day. And to make sure he didn't ruin his haircut I told him that his hair would not be pretty if he moved too much, and the hairdresser, Terri 姐姐, might cut his ear. Matty sat as still as a log.

Once his haircut was finished he turned around and asked Terri 姐姐 "can I play water now?". Yes, that's the real reason why he doesn't mind cutting his hair. Everytime after his haircut, Terri  姐姐 would let him take a water spray bottle out on the pavement to spray the cars that go by! And to no one's surprise, he loves it! But we have to be careful that he didn't shoot any innocent pedestrians that walks past, or cars that have their windows rolled down. Luckily most people in the cars don't mind. They just wave to Matty, or pretend to shoot him back with their finger gun.

Here Comes Santa!

We didn't make it to Santa's Grotto this year. We had thought about it, but just didn't have time right before Christmas. But in the end we didn't need to go... because Santa came to visit us!

After cooking a major feast for Christmas, Da Da transformed into Santa, with the costume carefully placed in the kitchen earlier. But things didn't go as smoothly as planned: Santa Da Da pressed the door bell and came in with his "Ho, Ho, Ho". But when it was time to hand Matty a present, Santa Da Da realised his sack was empty!! I had secretly placed the present in the kitchen earlier but never had time to put it in the sack, and I guess Santa Da Da was in such a hurry that he never had time to check either. But I guess that made Matty's first encounter with "Santa" even more memorable for everyone! I had to distract Matty to give us time to place the present back in the sack Heres a video of what actually happened:





From the look of excitement on Matty's face, it was all worth it. Matty sure did look convinced that Santa went to visit him. Thats what everyone thought too until Matty said "Da Da pretend to be Santa, so funny!" And this is what happened next:





So did we tell Matty the truth, that Da Da was Santa? Nope. We insisted that Da Da was not Santa. Some things are just better left untold.

Merry, Merry Little Christmas!

Matty met up with his little friends just before Christmas for a little fun after not seeing them for a while because of all these kindergarten interviews they've been having. Unlike the last time they met, they had a little more interaction. Although, it often involved snatching toys from each other or turning off a battery operated toy that someone else was playing with. And how much have they changed? Well, big Jonas is still significantly taller than the rest, small Jonas is still very gentle, and Jason is looking more, and more, like a replica of his dad. Whereas Matty, according to the aunties there haven't changed much.

At the boys dominated gathering, Matty also got to meet Jason's baby sister, Alyssa, for the first time. He sang for her, and tried to play with her, after we stopped him from rubbing his little grubby hands all over her face. He told me later he liked playing with Alyssa more than the boys. He said  "I want to touch baby next week". Don't read too much into that... My hubby also liked baby Alyssa too, who was 90 percent angel, and 10 percent scary, like most of the female species.

At their little party, Matty also gave them a few of our homemade shortbread cookies. He only agreed to give them away after much persuasion at home. Later, I asked him if he felt good after giving the cookies to his friends.


Me:                "Were you happy your friends opened your bag
                      of  cookies straight away?"




Matty:            "No."





Me:                "Were you happy when they ate your cookie and said it
                      was yummy?"





Matty:            "No,"


Like what happened at his school's Christmas party last week, Matty said he wanted to eat them all! I guess practice makes perfect. I will just have to make him share his things more.

The Joy of Christmas Reading

Matty loves books, and I hope he'll never get tired of it. The only problem is he's reached this developmental stage where he likes us to read the same book over and over again to him. He would ask me to read the  book before nap time, immediately after nap time, maybe once during playtime, after dinner, and then before bedtime. I'd consider myself lucky if my hubby was back before Matty's bedtime so I can take a break. It was just after dinner the other night when my hubby and I sat together to read Matty's latest favourite book. We looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh when we realised we could recite almost all of  it.

This book I'm talking about is Mary Engelbreit's A Merry Little Christmas: Celebrate from A to Z. One of two books I recently got Matty to help him learn about Christmas. He loves this book so much that he now uses these big plastic ABC's to spell each word out on the floor!

The other book I got him is a Nativity sticker activity book. He took it to Church with him recently when we went to watch a nativity play. I don't know how much of the story he can really understand. I just know that when they were singing "Star of Wonder", Matty turned to me to tell me thats not the star song. He said it should be "Twinkle, Twinkle". When we got home, Matty even told me he wanted to be baby Jesus.

Sweeter than Nectar

Many, many, many, years ago, when I was a kid, my mum told me about her friend's son who always used to leave his dad a half eaten cookie on the coffee table. I thought it was gross. But she said the little toddler was so sweet, and loved his dad so much. I guess I never really understood that sweetness until now.

Usually Matty and I would eat fruits together after dinner. This one night, after eating all his grapes, and leaving a few strawberries behind, Matty looked at me and said he wanted more grapes. I told Matty that he could have mine and I can have his strawberrries. But he said "no". I repeated myself again, then just poured my grapes into his Elmo bowl. That, was when Matty started crying.

Me:             "But I thought you want more grapes? You can have mine."

Matty:         "No!!!! I don't want!"




Me:            "My grapes are the same as yours. You can have mine."




Matty:        "No!!!!!!! I don't want."


His crying continued, but I just ignored him and told him I was going to eat the grapes. Later when he calmed down. I asked him what happened:



Me:              "Why did you cry when I gave you my grapes?"




Matty:           [Silence]




Me:             "Did you want Pa Pa (Suparmi my domestic helper)
                   to get more grapes from the fridge?"




Matty:         "Yes."




Me:             "No need to cry then. Matty big boy can talk. Just tell me."




Matty:         "I'm worried Ma Ma no grapes."




Me:            "You didn't want my grapes because you didn't want Ma Ma
                 to have no grapes?"




Matty:         "Yes."


Well, he didn't exactly leave my a cookie on the coffee table. But still, he wanted me to have something that he liked very, very much. So sweet!

Christmas Baking

Christmas is a time for sharing and giving, and what better way to teach Matty that than baking cookies with him for his School's end of term Christmas party. I wanted to make gingerbread men with him, but after looking at the recipe I gave up. We made shortbread cookies instead, and it turned out better than I expected!

If you know what making shortbread cookies involve, you'd know that quite a bit of flour is needed to stop the shortbread dough from sticking onto the rolling pin, and the cookie cutters. Anyway, Matty got a little too caught up in keeping the dough from sticking onto things. He started to spoon flour onto the dough and somehow managed to get it all over his face. I think, in the end, he enjoyed playing with the flour more than cutting the dough into cookie shapes.

After the cookies were ready, Matty couldn't wait to take his first bite. He looked at me and said "very good!" Although this came from a two-year-old, but it felt like I was just awarded a Michelin star.

And did he want to share his cookies?  Well, I was wrapping some of the cookies for his teachers as Christmas presents when he said this:


Matty:            "I want to eat all!"





Me:              "But you should give your teachers a Christmas present."





Matty:          "No! I want to eat all."


He still insisted on not giving his teachers the cookies when we were driving to school. But once we got there he asked me for the presents and gave it to the teachers himself. Phew! I was a little worried he'd start crying if I gave the cookies to the teachers for him.

And what did he pick to eat during snack time when he was offered a table full of yummy food brought in by other parents? He picked a little cake and jelly... and my cookies!!! Can you believe it, out of all the yummy food on the table, Matty still picked my cookies! Wow! Whoever it reading this must think my cookies were really, really good. They were just okay. I got the recipe from this Joy of Baking website.


Me:               "Did you pick Ma Ma cookies at the party because you liked playing with the flour?"




Matty:           "No."




Me:               "Is it because you made it with Ma Ma?"



Matty:           "Yes."



MATTY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS PRESENT


Matty was really happy with the present the school gave him too-- a door knob hanger with his picture, and a CD of all the songs he learned so far this year. I really like the CD too at the beginning because I wanted to know what Cantonese songs he knew. But if you ask me now I'd probably give you a different answer, after singing the songs with him over and over again. I could even hear the songs in my head when I was trying to sleep last night!!

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Chrstmas Tree!

Our Christmas tree has finally arrived! Well, actually it arrived last week, but because it looked too much like the one in Charlie Brown's Christmas, I asked Ikea to replace it. And yes,  I know, real fir trees are not eco-friendly. But what other choices are there? Plastic Christmas trees? Well, they're not exactly the best choice either, since they're not biodegradable, and they create a lot of pollution during the production process too. Think about it-- most of these factories are probably right next door to us in China!

But of course those were not our main considerations. We just like the smell of live fir trees, and because we simply don't have room to store a plastic tree once we're done with it. Not sure if the trees from Ikea are from a sustainable source though. Next year I'll probably order from Market Place instead, since they claim their trees are from a sustainable tree farm in the United States.

Anyway, Matty enjoyed decorating the tree, I think. I'm not too sure because he was afraid to touch the tree so it was hard to tell how much he enjoyed it. I guess it must be related to his fear of cacti, after reading this Dr Seuss book called "Hop on Pop" -- something I'll write about when I have more time.

Usually when Christmas comes I'd buy a new tree ornament for Matty. This year I decided to make one with him. Not that pretty, but we had fun.

Merry Christmas Mr Crocodile!

Its homework time again! This time the challenge is to turn a yellow paper bag into a "Christmas animal hand puppet"!! I was hoping to make something simple, like a lion or a duck with a Santa hat. But somehow my two-year-old knew just how to make my life difficult: Matty said he wanted to make a Christmas crocodile!!

After confirming, and reconfirming, that was what he wanted, I went straight to work, not knowing how long the process would take. I called my hubby for help, but he said he'd rather stay at work, than make a crocodile out of a paper bag!

Being the uncontested leader of this project, I quickly did all the cutting, and assigned my little helper to do the colouring and painting. But the short attention span of toddlers meant I ended up doing most of the work. Matty gave up a third of the way through!

Despite my effort, Matty insisted that it didn't look anything like a crocodile. He actually said it looked "ugly" just before I stuck the eyes on. Talk about being taken for granted!

And how can you make a crocodile "Christmas" like? I just ran out of ideas, and ended up sticking a Christmas tree in his mouth! Never thought I'd make use of my A-level's graphic skills like this.

A Taste Of Nature

This will probably sound funny to people who don't live here: grass is precious! Children in Hong Kong  rarely get to roll around on grass, unless you have a garden. Even if you're lucky enough to find some in a park, theres usually a sign that tells you to keep off! The only places where I've found grass to walk on are in Kowloon Tsai Park, and Inspiration Lake. So how can you let your children get a taste of nature? Its a real challenge for parents here!

Matty was lucky enough to visit his school's farm recently. It was a pretty long drive there, but it was worth it, since we got to see grass, and much, much, more. At the farm, Matty got to pull up his first carrot! But after taking one bite out of the freshest carrot he's ever had...Matty decided to give it to his Da Da. He grabbed an apple instead.   

Encouraged by the staff there not to waste any part of the carrot, Matty fed the carrot leaves to the animals on the farm. He had a great time feeding the goats, and rabbits there, but when we reached the one and only pig on the farm... Matty held back. He said the pig was scary!  I agree. The pig  had very yellow teeth and  had lots of flies flying around it.

But that doesn't mean the pig was not useful to me. When Matty refuses to brush his teeth now, I just show him a photo of the pigs teeth. I tell him his teeth would look like that if he doesn't clean it. Most of the time it works, but sometimes he just looks at me and says "I want to be pig!" Sigh. What can you say to that?

The Frog Master

Matty can be a bit of a scaredy-cat... sometimes literally, like when he has to summon up the courage to feed our docile little kitty cats, and even for normal everyday little kid things, like going down the slide... our pampered prince has to think twice.

I confess! This is my gene! When I was a kid I didn't particulary enjoy the slide much either. And even now, I can't stand the thought of getting on a roller coaster, or anything that makes my heart pound faster than your usual kickboxing workout. I used to think I could handle the tiny Pirate Ship ride at Ocean Park -- until one day, my hubby forced me to sit right at the back. Needless to say, he laughed at me through the entire ride as I forced back tears and kept my mouth wide open for an extended silent scream... I can still remember that day very clearly!

So with all this in mind, I didn't expect much from Matty when it came to amusement rides. But to my surprise, when we took Matty to Ocean Park the other day, he insisted on trying out the the most thrilling kiddy ride they have there: the Frog Hopper!



Matty:                        "I want to try!"



Me:                           "Are you sure? Did you see that little girl cry on the ride just then?"



Matty:                      "But other people happy."



Me:                          "But will you cry?'



Matty:                      "No."


Hoping that Matty would not be tall enough, we queued up for the ride. The man in charge carefully took his ruler out to make sure Matty met the minimum height of 90 centimetres. It was hard to tell, but the man and a few people in the queue said Matty was just right. So my hubby went on the ride with him, after I, not surprisingly, refused to go.



 

Unfortunately, you can't really see Matty's expression clearly with the poor quality of my video. But it was really funny. He was so excited, he looked like he was about to cry. But according to my hubby, who asked Matty if he was scared while they were sitting on the Frog Hopper, Matty only looked at him and said "see, I laughing! Ha.... Ha!".

The only thing I need to worry about now, I guess, is how I can  avoid going on that ride with him the next time.

Like Da Da, Like Son

We took Matty to "Sweet Dynasty" or "糖朝" last week-- a restaurant we haven't visited for a long time. Matty enjoyed his char siu bao (叉燒包), and cheung fun (腸粉) there, but he refused to eat his sweetcorn and black moss (髮菜) porridge. He said he didn't want to eat leg hair!

Just as we were running out of things to keep matty amused, Da Da's favorite cold mango tofu pudding arrived! Well, its not really his favourite. Its the dried ice that comes with it that is his favourite! Matty was really surprised, and enjoyed every second he got blowing vapour from the dried ice. Yes, thats exactly like his Da Da!

Here's a video of Matty's vapour blowing. Please tilt your head to a 90 degree angle before watching. Da Da was obviously so excited about the dried ice that he filmed the video the wrong way.

My Dad is Smellier Than Your Dad!

You don't have to know my husband well to know how scruffy, or disorganised he is. But I love him! Of course there are times when I want to strangle him. But thats normal, right? I guess, when you love someone, you learn to accept everything about them: from their bad breath in the morning, to their farts in the lift, when  you're the only other person there, or their burping in the car. But all this smelly business seems to be too much for my two-year-old.

The other day, Da Da tried to play camping with Matty in bed. But when Da Da tried to pull the blanket over their heads, Matty refused, and pulled the blanket away. He frowned, and said his dad was smelly!

Not willing to accept the truth, my hubby tried to play with Matty under the blanket again in the afternoon. He was rejected again!


Me:                  "Matty, whats wrong?"




Matty:              "臭臭!" (Smelly!)




Me:                 "What is 臭臭?"




Matty:              "Da Da!"




Me:                 "Where is 臭臭? Da Da's mouth, or head?"




[Pause]




Matty:             "I smell.... something."


With that response, my hubby quickly went to take a shower. He let Matty smell his head afterwards and asked him if he smelled nice. Finally, Matty said "yes", and Da Da was happy again.

The Day I Splashed Great Grandma With Water

Its not often that Matty spends time with his great grandma (太嫲), who will turn 92 next month. We always mean to see her more often, but most of the time life gets in the way. A few days ago, Matty went yum cha with her at Disney Hotel! Inbetween running wild in the maze outside the hotel building, and climbing benches, Matty helped push great grandma's wheelchair, with the help of uncle Charles, who did the steering. If it wasn't for him, I think Matty would have crashed great grandma into a bush, or even a rubbish bin.

We had planned on walking to Inspiration Lake, but decided to turn back when we reached the entrance to Disneyland.We were all too unfit! Although we didn't go inside the themepark, Matty still had loads of fun with this water fountain he discovered.

Matty wet his hands at the fountain, and splashed the ground with water. He then splashed great grandma too, after all the uncles (叔公) and aunts (姑婆) encouraged him. Matty ran up to her, and flung his wet hands at her.  "Saa! Saaa!" He said. I was a bit worried at first, because splashing wasn't exactly the thing you do to your great grandma right? My hubby said he'd never splashed her with water when he was a kid. It was only after seeing her grin, that I immediately felt a sigh of relief. Phew!

Matty only starting "saa-ing" after he learned this song from school about taking showers. This will give you an idea of what the song sounds like:

Lu, La, Lu, La, Lu, La, Lu, La, Lay,

Lu, La, Lu, La, Lu, La, Lu, La, Lu, La, Lay.

大手板! 洗頭頭!

大手板! 洗手臂!

大手板! 洗肚腩!

大手板! 洗pat pat!

Sa! Sa! Sa!

轉身沖沖水!

Sa! Sa! Sa!

I guess controlled splashing is harmless. I just hope he won't start splashing his teachers, or other kids at school. And I certainly hope he won't start splashing his grandma (嫲嫲). Fingers crossed.

I want to grow beard!

If you've read my earlier post about Matty's post holiday blues, you'd know that Matty doesn't like his dad's beard, or stubbles. Its really my hubby's own fault. He loves kissing Matty on his belly when he hasn't shaved for days, and Matty hates it! I don't blame him. If I had baby soft skin like his, I would push Da Da away too.

But recently Matty's fear of his dad's beard has been working in my favour. I don't know if its a male thing, but Matty has been refusing to put cream on after his bath. I know, its not suppose to be a big thing for boys, but I just want to preserve his baby soft skin just a little longer. Anyway, to persuade him to put his cream on I did something naughty:  I told him the cream would prevent him from growing beard like his Da Da.



Me:               "Do you want to put cream on now?"



Matty:           "Yes."



Me:              "If you don't want hair on your legs, arm and chest,
                    you have to put this cream on."



Matty:          "Okay."

It worked! He's been putting on his cream like a good little boy! But this didn't last long. A few days ago he stopped putting cream on again! This time he said "I want to grow beard, like Da Da!" Do toddlers really change THAT quickly? I guess the answer is, yes. And does that mean he's stopped putting his cream on? The answer to that is, no.

I just simply told him to put another cream on, that would help him grow a beard, and hair on his arms and legs. I guess a little white lie can't hurt once in a while, right?

But I still don't know what I'm going to tell him when he asks me about his missing beard in a few weeks time. I guess I'll figure it out when the time comes. Wish me luck!

Nightmare on Norfolk Road

Matty has finally reached the age where his knowledge and capabilities have to be tested, before he can further his studies... in a kindergarten! I know, it sounds ridiculous, especially to people who don't live in Hong Kong. But getting into a good, or should I say "famous" kindergarten, is a BIG thing for many parents here. Well, I guess its not really their fault. Its just the way the education system works in Hong Kong. If you get into a "famous" kindergarten, its somehow easier for you to get into good primary schools later.

Anyway, Matty did pretty well at his first 2 interviews. He basically behaved like himself, which is all I wanted from him. The nightmare started when we went to the "famous" kindergartens.

FAMOUS KINDY 1:

Two teachers were at the interview. One was there to test Matty, and another was there to distract me. I basically didn't know what went on in that interview. I just saw Matty dancing in the middle of the room half-way through. And when I told him to give the teacher a hug before we left, the teacher acted as though she'd never had a hug from anyone before. A kindergarten with little transparency, and love is not what I think my boy needs. No matter how famous it is, or what school it'll get Matty into.

FAMOUS KINDY 2:

Matty was taken to a room with 4 tables full of lego. While all the kids were busy building things, Matty just held onto a horse, and a man. A teacher, who probably thought she was a child psychologist, or a child development specialist, walked around taking notes. But why all lego? Maybe, they're trying to be scientific, and fair, in testing all the kids with the same kind of toy. But don't they know that all kids are created different? Maybe they know something that I don't. Maybe Lego is the ultimate toy in testing intelligience. That must be it! Okay, okay, I'm just complaining because we never got Matty real lego to play with. And I don't remember why we never did.

Anyway, Matty was later interviewed by a mean looking teacher there. He answered all but one question. A pretty simple one that I knew he knew the answer to! He was asked to spot the odd one out:


Teacher:        "Can you tell me which one is different, or not the same? There are two candies here,  
                     and this one is a lollipop."



Matty:           [Pause]  "I don't know."


I don't know?!? My heart just sank. I was thinking "I know you know, just say it!" But in the end, even after the teacher gave Matty hints, he just smiled and answered again with "I don't know."

Unable to get rid of that terrible feeling, I went home and took out two toy cows and a pig to test him. I just had to find out if he really didn't know.


Me:              "Okay, Matty can you tell me which one is different?"



Matty:          "PIG!"



Me:             "So you do know! Why didn't you answer the teacher's question then?"



Matty:         "Because, because, I don't like the teacher."


Finding a good Kindergarten for Matty is already a difficult job. But finding one that is good, and is liked by Matty is even harder. Hopefully he will do better in the other interviews coming up.

Oh, and yes, we finally got Matty some lego to play with!

Here, Kitty, Kitty!

Matty has known our cats for as long as he can remember. Although, they laze around our flat all the time, he doesn't interact with them much. He likes to pat them occasionally, but I have to keep a close watch just in case he gets too rough. I'm actually not worried the cats would hurt him. They don't scratch or bite anything, apart from plastic bags, and my hubby's earphones.

Our oldest cat, Tobasco, loves Matty (I think). Sometimes he would walk up to Matty when he cries, as if  he wants to make sure Matty was alright. Our other cat Isabel, is a bit more ignorant. She only likes my hubby's feet!

When 婆婆 (grandma) comes to visit occasionally, she would bring the cats steamed chicken. Matty would watch 婆婆 feed the cats with excitement, but he would never feed them himself. He said he was scared they'd bite him.

But when 婆婆 came to visit this time, Matty tried to feed the cats too, after I told him to be brave. He kept saying "Sharp teeth! Sharp teeth!" after the cats grabbed the chicken from his fingers. He was a little scared I think, but he definitely had fun.

Casanova Matty

When people first meet Matty, they usually describe him as well-tamed or soft-spoken. But if you know him well, you'd know thats not always true. Matty is just good at deceiving the aunties and uncles he doesn't know so well.

Like most boys, Matty sometimes like to elbow, push, or hit people. I remember he was pretty rough to little Keira when she came to visit with auntie Steph a few months ago. He tried to bite her finger, before elbowing her and putting his hand in her shirt!

But over the weekend, when we went to visit Jason, and his baby sister Alena, Matty showed me a completely different side of him. Not only did he not elbow her, Matty hugged and kissed her!

So, is it time for Matty to have a baby sister or brother? I tried to find out on our car ride back home:



Me:            "Did you like playing with baby Alena?"



Matty:        "Yes."



Me:             "Do you want a baby sister or brother?"



Matty:        "No."



Me:            "Do you want Mama to have a baby so you'd have someone                  to play with at home all the time?"



Matty:        "Um..... no."


Matty is definitely good at making his view clear. I just never thought a 2-year-old could be this wise. Did he know that once he had a sister or brother, he won't be the baby of our family anymore? Did he know that we would give him less attention? Matty never ceases to amaze me.

To infinity ∞

Matty is at an age where he loves asking questions: "What is 'A' in Chinese?" "What happen if Matty is Naughty?" or "Where is Mr Sun hiding?"

Just the other night Matty asked me what a 'sea anamone' was, after he heard it on one of my iphone games. I wasn't too sure myself. But my hubby told Matty it was a boneless sea creature, similar to jellyfish.

To fulfil his curiosity further, my hubby showed him  pictures of sea anamones on the internet. And because Matty kept on saying "sea enemy", my hubby introduced syllables to him, to help him pronounce the word.

What began as a fairly complicated conversation, became even more complicated later:

Hubby:        "Matty, it's sea uh-NEM-uh-nee."

 

Matty:         "Sea eNEmy!"

 

Hubby:        "A-nam-o-ne has 4 different sounds, or 4 syllables."

Matty:        "Ah-nem-o-neee."

Hubby:       "Yes, very good.  Da-da, has 2 syllables.
                  So if it's Dadadadadadadada, there are 8 syllables."

 

Matty:        "What if dadadadadadadadadadada?"

 

Hubby:       "Many dada's"

Matty:        "What if dadadadadadadada in a circle?"

 

Filled with excitement,  my hubby asked  me if Matty was talking about infinity. I was like "Huh? Could that really be possible?" My hubby explained what happened again. When we both looked at Matty who had also listened in, he just gave us a smile. Its impossible to know what Matty was really thinking at the time. But my hubby is convinced that Matty had alluded to the concept of infinity at two and half years old! So, will he really turn out to be a science genius? Hard to say. If he does, I know it won't be because of my genes.

Halloween III

Its Matty's third Halloween this year. But I don't think he knows what its about yet, since most kids here don't go trick-or-treating. Afterall, its a bit difficult to tell if the 婆婆 (grandma) next door knows what Halloween is. You don't really want to scare anyone into having a heart attack right? And what fun is it to go trick-or-treating in the 20 or 30 floor building you live in?

This year, Matty said he wants to dress up as a spider, because he likes the Incy Wincy spider song. But because he already did that last year, we decided to dress him up as a knight instead. My hubby convinced Matty that a knight was better because he can protect Ma Ma.

After steaming his costume the other night, Matty couldn't wait to try it on. "I saving Ma Ma." he said, pointing this $10 devil fork thing he got from a book store at my hubby.

Now, I don't know why he was pointing it at his dad, but what he said, to me, was sweeter than all the candys you can get trick-or-treating any time.

E & C Wedding

Matty was surprisingly well-behaved at Auntie Evelyn and Uncle Corey's wedding dinner over the weekend. He smiled almost non-stop as we stepped into the room. Matty gave the newlyweds a picture he drew for them, and said 恭喜 (congratulations). The English version of 恭喜 was still a little too complicated for him. I wish he would be this cooperative all the time. Well, at least I hope he will be cooperative at his kindergarten interviews coming up soon.

Although, there was plenty of food and aunties and uncles to play with, Matty's favourite part of dinner was still the heart-shaped chocolate wedding favour. And being extremely well-behaved that night, Matty promised to eat it when he stopped coughing. Yes, it felt like a dream come true.

Matty @ Playhouse

What started off as a pretty boring, but relaxing week for Matty, who is on his half-term break, ended with an exciting afternoon out with his friends:  Jonas, and Jason, from his old playgroup.

We went to check out this indoor playground in Kowloon Bay that I didn't even know existed. It was great! It was just what any kid would hope for. Matty and Jason liked the ball pool drop slide the most. I know because I had to go down the slide after Matty three times, and I saw Jason's mum go down the same slide at least FIVE times! Luckily my hubby was there so we could take turns. I don't remember if I had ever played in a ball pool (波波池) myself when I was a kid. But I hate them! Actually, its more like I'm scared of them. I don't know if its because of this government ad about hand, foot, and mouth disease on TV, but everytime I slide into the ball pool, all I can think of is germs! Yes, I admit it, I am a germophobe!

Anyway, Matty and the boys had fun. I heard Jonas say 無驚驚啦! (I'm not scared!) after he climbed onto a really high platform. His mum said he's a scaredy-cat when is comes to climbing, but he seemed fine to me. And when a staff there asked Jason if he would come play again, Jason quickly said: 會! (Yes!).

I think what we all found really amusing at Playhouse was when both Jonas and Jason decided to feed Matty during their little snack break. Maybe they both sensed Matty's desire to be served ALL the time.

Matty meets Euclid

Yes, that does look like a rectangle, but according to Matty, its a square! And whats with the sad face? I don't know. I asked him to smile but the rebellious side of  him took over, and he frowned!

Matty has been drawing and writing quite a  lot recently. He likes writing the letters, "E", "F" and "Q" the most. I guess he picked up on drawing the square this week when I was teaching him cantonese words for various shapes.

He's also really into numbers now. "100" is one of his favourite. Matty would occasionally force me to write all the numbers from 1 to 100 on a piece of paper for him. And he'd get really excited when we finally reach one hundred:


Matty:      "One hundred!...A lot of money!"



Me:          "One hundred can be money. But it can also be many other things, like one hundred books, or one hundred toys. Its not just about money.

Matty:      [Blank look]

Matty:      "WAH! One hundred dollars! So much money!"

Sigh. I don't know who taught him that. I assume it was my helper, because I certainly didn't, and  my hubby has denied any involvement.

"16" is another favorite number of Matty's, but thats only because my hubby keeps telling him about all these toys he can play, and things he can do when he's a BIG boy-- when he's 16-years-old.

Parappa Matty The Rapper

Matty just turned two and a half a few days ago. I don't know if its because of this, my hubby got him his first guitar pick. Its got Parappa the rapper's face on it (a character from a video game).

I was a little surprised, because my hubby's only been getting Matty haw flakes (山楂餅) recently. Anyway, I was determined to find some deep and meaningful reason behind this rare purchase.


Me:       "So why did you buy him a pick?"



Hubby:  "Dunno."



Me:       "You want him to learn how to play the
             guitar now?



[Silence]



Me:       "Or do you just want him to stay away from your picks?"



Hubby:  [Chuckle] "No."



Me:        "Then why?"



Hubby:   "Because he looks like Matty."


So was THAT the deep and meaningful reason I was looking for? No! And does Matty really look like the rapper dog? I don't think so. But Matty said he likes the pick and thats what really matters I guess.

Matty obviously doesn't know how to play the guitar right now. He's just really good at  dropping the pick in the sound hole. Um...I wonder if he will still have this pick when he's old enough to have his own band.

Getting My Stubborn Patient To Say, Yes!

Matty had his first ever high fever over the weekend. 103F. He seemed perfectly fine actually. He was playing just as hard, and eating just as much as before. But of course he was a lot hotter. Even after he took paracetamol, he was still 102F.

We tried to make him put one of those cold gel packs on his forehead, but he refused. He said it was "too cold".

Me:         "But it would make you feel better, because your forehead
               is so hot."


Matty:      "No."



Me :        "If you get any hotter I will have to put this pill
               up your bum."


Matty:     "NO!!!"


Me:         "Can I stick the cold pack on your armpit?"


Matty:      "NO!"


Me:          "Do you want to use a wet towel instead?"


Matty:      "Yes."


YES! Problem solved. But how do I keep the towel attached to his forehead when he's playing?

We ended up using this purple head band I have to hold it in place. Strangely enough, it was something he didn't seem to mind.

I Nuv You, Ma Ma!

I always put Matty to bed at night, because my hubby is either at work, or at school during his bedtime. But in the morning, my hubby is the only one in bed with him because I'm already at work. And even though Matty loves his Da Da very much, he often cries for me when he wakes up. It drives my hubby crazy sometimes because he likes to go to sleep very late at night (or VERY early in the morning).

To help solve the problem I had a little chat with Matty before bedtime:

Me:       "No crying when you wake up in the morning
              ok? You know Ma Ma is at work, right?"


Matty:    "Matty cry."


Me:       "No need to cry, because Da Da will be here with Matty."


Matty:    "I don't want Ma Ma go to work."


Me:        "Ma Ma has to earn money to buy things for Matty."


Matty:    "Buy what things?"


Me:        "Like food, clothes and toys."


Matty:     "I don't want things. I want Ma Ma stay with Matty."


It was only a few simple words, but my heart melted instantly. I don't think I've ever felt that way before.
It sure felt good.

Belated Post-holiday Blues

Its not often that I see Matty sitting still. He's usually climbing our bookshelf, singing his ABC's, or playing teacher with whoever is available.

The other day I found him lying in his bed! I know it sounds strange for a two-year-old, but he was staring at the ceiling as if in deep thought.

I calmly asked him what was wrong, and he said he wanted to go on holiday! It has been several months since we went to Koh Samui. But I just didn't expect him to get the post-holiday blues now.

Me:              "So, where do you want to go?"

Matty:          "Thailand."

Me:              "Again? Why?"

Matty:          "Because I want play, play, play!"

Me:             "Who do you want to go with?"

Matty:         "Ma Ma,  and Pa Pa (short for our domestic helper,

                  Suparmi)."

Me:            "Can Da Da come too?"

Matty:         "No, he's got beard." (Ha ha ha ha--serves him right for

                   not shaving all the time.)

Me:            "Can Da Da come if he shaves?"

Matty:        "I want to go on holiday with Da Da if he shaves...

                 tomorrow."

Well, we're not planning to go on holiday any time soon. But with the pair of boxing shorts we got from Thailand, a pair of old socks,  and a little imagination...I guess we managed to beat Matty's post-holiday blues for now.

My Crayon Shin-chan (我的蠟筆小新)

Matty has been going through different phases recently. He's now in a phase where he wants to be funny...and sometimes he really is.

I was watching a little TV the other night after my shower. Matty came along and started playing with my wet hair. This is what happened next:


Matty:    "Your hair is wet."



Me:        "Yes, Ma Ma just washed it,                but no one used towel to dry it for me."



Matty then rushed into his room.



Me:        "Its Ok Matty, no need to get towel for Ma Ma."



Matty then came out of his room with a naughty grin on his face.



Me:       "What are you holding in your hand? That doesn't look like a
             towel."


Matty stared at me with his eyebrows raised, and his eyes opened as far as they could.


Matty:   "Its underwear!"


Trying very  hard to stop myself from laughing at all, I told him he couldn't use his dirty underwear to dry my hair. But he wasn't worried or scared. Instead of appologising,  he said with a big grin "Matty is funny!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Matty really likes this high-tech fireworks gadget we have at home. Actually, my hubby REALLY likes it too.  He was the one that got really excited when he first saw it, and spent $16XX on it. But let me clarify something: the "high-tech" gadget is really just a nicely packaged slide machine that shoots fireworks to the ceiling. Its not THAT cool.

Anyway, because Matty enjoyed the machine so much we took him to see the National Day fireworks yesterday, live, in Tsim Sha Tsui. He's seen fireworks on TV before, but never live.

So, did he jump up and down, or scream with excitement? Nope. He was expressionless. It was only after a few minutes when he got a little more excited. "Boom! Boom! Boom!" he said, opening and closing his hand. But this excitement didn't last long.  

Two minutes later...

Matty:        "Is it finished?"

Me:            "Not yet."

One minute later....

Matty:        "Is it finished?

Me:            "Not yet."

Ten seconds later.....

Matty:        "I want to go home."

We actually never planned on watching the whole thing,  but because of Matty's response, we left even earlier.

Sooooooo glad we didn't book an expensive buffet just to watch the fireworks!

Dada/2 = Matty

Matty is almost two and a half years old now. He still sleeps in our bed, and we love it! Well, apart from when he does these acrobatic moves in the middle of the night, and headbutts us while we're in deep sleep... or when he sticks his foot in our face...or when he sleeps like this Chinese character "大"...or when he takes up so much space that his dad has to curl up at the end of the bed. Trust me, we really do love sleeping with him!

Last night, while we watched him sleep peacefully ...and diagonally across our bed, we realised how fast he's grown... and how much space he was taking up!

We measured him today after school.


Age: 2yrs 5mths

Height: 2 feet 11.5"

Weight: 32lbs

Handspan: 13.5 cm

Length of foot: 13.5 cm

WOW! He's grown 2 inches in the past 5 months. Right now he's already half as tall as my hubby. His foot is also half as long as his dad's. BUT luckily he's not half as heavy as him (he he he HA HA HA!). My maths is actually pretty crap, but his dad's weight should work out to be around 6 times that of Matty's. Hopefully, that will change soon when his dad starts playing tennis.

The Power of "T"

Separation anxiety has been a real issue for Matty recently, after the teachers at his new school made him stay in class on his own for 30-40 minutes everyday, while his dada pretended to go to the bathroom, or somewhere nearby to buy a drink. So what exactly did he do inside when dada was gone? He cried... cried... and cried some more. We've never seen him like this before. After a traumatising few days, Matty bacame glued to his dada inside the classroom, and wouldn't do anything without his dada next to him.

The other day Matty's teacher finally "suggested" that my hubby stopped going to classes with him. She said his emotions may be affecting Matty indirectly (ha ha ha ha ha). She also recommended that my helper go to school with him instead because he's less emotionally attached to her.

Before I took Matty to school with my helper this morning, I remembered Matty REALLY wanted to try drinking tea like all the adults, so I told him that if he didn't cry at school I would let him drink some:

Me: "Matty no cry at school ok?"

Matty: "Matty cry!"

Me: "Matty if you want to drink tea like dada and mama, you have to be a big boy--that means no crying at school ok?"

Matty: "What kind of tea?"

Me: "There are different kinds. Some are green, some are brown, or light yellow. Some even smells like fruits."

Matty: "Matty want!"

Me: "Then Matty remember no cry at school."

Matty: "Matty no cry."

And to help him remember his mission, I wrote the letter 'T' on both his palms just so he can see it, and remember his tea, if he cries.

So did it work? According to my helper ... it did! She said when Matty wanted to cry after I left the school, he looked at his palm and stopped crying.

The teacher called me later and told me Matty only cried for two minutes during the 30 minute separation-- a real BIG improvement! I just hope it will last.

Homework Time

Okay, its finally arrived.... HOMEWORK! Even at two-years-old, schools here already start to give out homework (to justify the high school fees I think).

According to the instructions from school, we're suppose to cut pictures of Matty's favourite fruits from magazines and BOOKS! Why anyone would want to teach toddlers to destroy books I really don't know.

I flipped through the stack of magazines we have at home, but there was no sign of fruits anywhere. I guess its not surprising since we only have photography and car magazines at home....WAIT A MINUTE...how does my hubby have time to read Grrrrr ?!?!

Anyway, we decided in the end, it was easier for us to take the fruit pictures ourselves.

So, what is Matty's favourite fruit? I don't think even he knows. He likes so many of them. Matty only told me he didn't like kiwi anymore, and his new love was lemon... lemon in honey water.

Mummy's Little Helper

Yesterday, was one of those days when I was left home alone to entertain my ever so demanding toddler. After working 5 am shifts every morning on weekdays, entertaining Matty for ten hours on a public holiday was just something I really, really looked forward to...NOT!

While I was fighting to keep my eyelids open and watching Barney, I realised I really should make the most out of our time together. Afterall, how long will Matty want to hang out with his mum, right?

So we ended up making quite a few things yesterday... chocolate chip cookies was one of them. Usually, whenever I made anything I'd do all the work and let Matty stir a little. But this time I decided to let him help all the way through. He really enjoyed every part of it-- from the egg cracking to the mixing and the waiting.

Later, after munching a few of his cookies he looked at me and said: "I like making cookies with Ma Ma very much." I'm so glad I have such a good little helper.

My Mooncake Monster

We LOVE the mid-autumn festival. Actually we love ALL major festivals. I think it all really started after Matty was born, when all festivals turned into a major event for us: his first Christmas...his first Chinese new year... and so on. This year is Matty's third Mid-autumn festival, but its particularly special because its really the first one that he'll remember. We took him shopping for a lantern the other day which I guess he enjoyed. But what he really liked, we found out later was.....MOONCAKE! I can't say I was really surprised since Matty like most kids love eating sweet stuff... but somehow he seemed to have a special extra something for mooncakes . Just the other day he finished his porridge in lightning speed just for a piece of mooncake, and tonight he managed to finished his dinner just so he can have mooncake for dessert. I guess if we want him to do what we say , we really should stock up on mooncakes.

Bob the Builder no more

Matty went to TWO birthday parties today--and yes my muscles are still aching! There was good food and good clowns.... and there was Bob the builder LIVE in person!! He was not Bob the Builder we're used to seeing on TV. He looked more like a bachelorette party stripper, or some Character from 'The Full Monty". I didn't particularly mind, but Matty and his cousin had moments when they just couldn't hold back their tears.

When we finally got home I talked to Matty about Bob the Builder, and it went something like this:

Me: "Do you like Bob the Builder now?"

Matty: "No"

Me: "why not?"

Matty: "I scared"

Me : "What about Bob the Builder on TV?"

Matty: "Only on TV.... not real Bob the Builder."

Poor traumatised Matty.

Bye Bye Chubby Cheeks

Matty met his little girl friend, Francessca, for lunch today before she heads off to Singapore with her parents next month. Well, its not really his girl friend I guess... they've only met once before, but I'd like to think of them as friends. After watching them run around in circles, and rolling on the floor in Festival Walk I just wondered why we need toys at all. It was just fascinating how much fun they had with nothing, but each other's company. I wished they had more time to play together. Little Fran was not like most girls Matty has met: she doesn't mind being pushed on the floor , or elbowed (something Matty tends to do when he gets excited)... and most important of all she has chubby cheeks and REAL thunder thighs. Hopefully they will play again soon.